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Which path is the right path?

Field Notes

These articles were originally featured on Field Notes, National Arts Strategies' ArtsJournal blog where we mine, distill and contextualize ideas; provide frameworks that anyone can use; and offer everyone in the field the opportunity to discuss the underlying issues.

CC Billy Wilson via Flickr

This week on Field Notes, we're talking about career paths. We've broken this conversation down into four questions. We'll dive into a different question each day this week. Today, we take a look at the obstacles in between where you are and where you want to be. How do you determine what these obstacles are? Which ones are the most important to focus on now?

Informational interviews are one of the most beneficial ways to understanding what you need in order to get where you want to be. As Bill Barnett shared in the video we featured earlier this week, internships are like prototypes. Informational interviews are like prototypes too. You can ask all the questions about how an individual got to be where they are and gain an understanding of their day-to-day. By talking to as many people as possible, you can gain confidence in your decision to take on a certain position.

In this archived Field Notes post, Alorie Clark, spoke with three Executive Directors in the field and discovers they all took drastically different paths to get where they are now. She maps these paths based on patience and risk tolerance. See what she learns from the results.